Idiopathic Cystitis

A cat’s personality is developed from a complicated mix of life experiences and genetics. Nervous and anxious cats are easy to spot by their patterns of behaviour. For example, they scare easy, run and hide when the doorbell rings and you will often find them retreated under the bed for long periods of a time. Many people assume that cats behaving this way have had a life of cruelty and have had some form of traumatic experience? Perhaps this is the case for some, but as mentioned earlier, it could just be down to genetics!

My lovely Nala has always been an anxious character.

Her ideal moment in time would be to have her close family around her (me and my husband) quietly watching TV and sticking to the usual routine. Unfortunately for her, that doesn’t always happen.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nala had it her way. She slowly got very used to not having any guests, we didn’t leave her alone nearly as much except to go to the shops and she was basically living the anxious free dream! Then suddenly, lockdown began to lift, and we started to get back to our normal busy way of life.

What changes did we start to see in Nala?

Cats are incredibly good at hiding their feelings. Fear leads to looking vulnerable, and vulnerability in the wild is a sure trap for danger! So, what do they do...? Act like everything is all fine until you start to smell the ammonia coming from a dark corner in your living room. 😳 

Nala had developed idiopathic cystitis. For a week without us noticing, she began urinating in the corner of our living room. Her bladder had become irritated, and she associated this pain with her litter tray and so she sought out alternative weeing spots. We noticed that she was becoming more secluded, so we decided to seek help.

After a veterinary check-up confirming that there were no underlying concerns, we took their advice and placed more litter trays around the house. The rule of thumb is to have one litter tray per cat plus an extra one. One of my very experienced Vet Nurse friends recommended an anti-anxiety tablet that contains completely natural ingredients with no adverse side-effects. It also had the added bonus of tasting fishy so there was no drama in getting her to take it which would have ironically added to her stress!

Signs of anxiety in cats:

●      Tense body

●      Lip licking

●      Dilated pupils

●      Hypersensitivity to noise/movement

●      Urination retention

●      Urine spraying

●      Inappropriate urination

●      Over-grooming

●      Change in normal routine/patterns of behaviour

Signs of a fearful cat

●      Dilated pupils

●      Rapid heart rate

●      Tense body

●      Low crouched body posture

●      Sweaty paws

●      Trembling

●      Aggression

●      Escape

●      Hiding/freezing/avoiding

●      Involuntary elimination

It is important to distinguish the differences between an anxious and a fearful cat so that you can take the right course of action!

A happy ending…

It is very important to understand the expectations of an anxious cat. If a quiet evening snoozing under the bed is what they need to escape whatever dangers they feel are lurking, then this should be respected, and we should not try and take it away from them.

We decided to leave Nala be when she needed her ‘safe space’ and she soon would come down in her own time. Her anxiousness began to fade away and she slowly returned to her usual (yet slightly odd) snuggly self.

She still has her ‘flare ups’ from time to time but as this condition is ‘idiopathic’, which means that there is no exact cause; it could be anything.

 Always seek veterinary advice if you do see a change in your cat’s behaviour, but don’t assume your anxious cat has something clinically wrong. There is always a reason for your cat’s behaviour, it is up to us to identify the cause. 😊

- Emma